The Saga of Vertahleenee Caffarelli
by darren paolini
Summary: This is dedicated to Jaime! a.k.a kurda's girl. My first story. Please review!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Blood Lust

I knew he was following me. In fact I knew he was following me about three blocks ago. I knew a shortcut to my home, a shortcut that only I knew. I sped up and remained in the dark. The trees whistled around me, the moon lit an eerie light over the street. I walked a little further and then stepped into a side alley and hid in the shadows. The man stood right next to the alley and the moon showed his hideous features. Purple skin, long, flowing scarlet hair, the smell of rotting flesh and crimson eyes, he was a monster. And then he looked straight at me in the eyes, even though I was hiding in the shadows. He pounced at me with alarming speed. I dived to the right; karate class really paid off, and began to sprint down the alley towards the street. The man was running along the wall, drool running down his chin. What was this monster? And then he grabbed me and dragged me along the pavement by my hair! I started to scream and cry. The pain was excruciatingly unbearable. He paused in front of a sewer grate, opened it up and pushed me in. I was falling and before I could say, "HELP!" I landed and everything went black……

I opened my eyes, there was little light. I hear whimpering by my side. I turned and felt for the whimpering noise and my hands met a person. "GET OFF ME!" the voice screamed. It was a male voice, it sounded about sixteen. "I'm sorry" I apologized. He asked me if I was human. "Of course," I said, "That is the only race in this universe!" He started whimpering again and muttered something that sounded a lot like 'If only…..Darren Shan!' "Pardon" I asked. "NOTHING!" he screamed. I sat in the corner and then realized I was in a cell. The only lighting were flaming torches on the walls. "I'm Steve Leonard!" the guy said. "Vertahleenee Caffarellii, or Tahlee, if you like" I replied. Then the man who had dragged me here appeared at the iron bars in front of me. The disgusting smell of rotting flesh re-entered my nostrils. The smell made me nauseous and I was pretty sure Steve actually did vomit. The man smiled his lips curled back to reveal pointy yellow fangs. "Welcome prisoners to the point of no return! In here you will live for a couple of days until we decide to feed from you! Have fun!" Then he disappeared into the shadows. Steve started hyperventilating. I walked over to calm him but he pushed me away. He started muttering, 'That damn Darren Shan!' over and over. I lied down and tried sleeping but Steve's crazy mutterings kept me awake. I eventually opened my eyes to see his face standing over mine. I screamed and he covered my mouth and he sealed my screams with a kiss. I struggled to get him off me and he scratched me in the process. I kicked him away and spat at him getting the taste of Steve Leonard off me! He was staring at my scratch; blood began to spill out of the incision. His tongue whipped out of his mouth, drool beginning to foam at the sides of his mouth and then he pounced. I army rolled to my right and into the wall knocking me on my back. He jumped again and my feet tuck up instinctively, he landed on them and groaned in pain. I got up and began to kick him. That's when the monster's voice spoke over Steve's screams, "I see you two are acquainted, now get acquainted to your newest companion. But don't worry; she'll be dead sooner then you two!" With a thud a pretty Asian woman landed on the cell floor. "Damn vampaneze!" Steve stood up and gazed into the woman's eyes. She shook her head and began muttering to herself, "Blooding boys!" Steve walked and crouched in the corner, I could tell he was staring at me so I decided to go and talk to the woman. She obviously talked English. "Hi, I'm..." "Vertahleenee Caffarellii, I know. I've been tracking the vampaneze that's captured us and unfortunately he was tracking you for a number of days. I'm sorry to say this but I used you as bait!" I shrunk away in horror. This woman could have saved me but now we're both going to die for her stupid mistake. "But why…?" I asked quite hurt by her stupidity. "Because…. He has killed hundreds before you and he needs to be stopped. Using you as my bait, I could have caught and slain him in a matter of minutes. But no, you tried to escape!" I went into the corner and sulked. I could hear Steve muttering again and I could see the woman sharpening a blade.

An hour has passed and the woman beckons me forward. I go, not wanting any trouble. "I'm sorry for this!" she whispers. "Sorry, for what?" I ask. The woman brings the blade down on my arm. It pierces the skin and goes deep in the muscle. I howl with pain and the woman grabs my arm and pushes it through the iron bars. I look back at the cell, Steve is standing and his eyes glint in the dark, murderously. I try to break free of the woman's grip but she holds me steady. Steve is walking forward now, I turn back and my face nearly crashes into my purple skinned captor. He sniffs around, tongue lolling out of his mouth. The drool dripping from his tongue soon makes a pool of saliva. He curls back his lips with a sinister smile, his fangs protruding from his gums and arches his neck and sinks his lips into my cut. I scream with shock and pain. The blood is draining from my cut quickly, it's nearly all gone. His teeth puncture a hole in my muscle. New blood struggles free. And then the evil monster is kicked aside. The woman cries with defeat and Steve goes back to his corner. I look in the darkness for my savior but collapse with loss of blood.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Juliana, Shirtless Vampires, Hard kissing and Darkness

I wake with a start, I have a throbbing headache and my surroundings are unusually dark. I stand to see darkness, no light from the torches of the wall. Nothing. Then I hear a scurrying of feet, I follow the noise and I am consciously aware that the woman and Steve are not here and my cell is wide open. I brace myself just incase the cell door is closed but there is no collision. The scurrying stops and I crouch down with fear. I have not stepped outside my cell and I'm scared of the unknown. Anything could be wandering around in the dark. I wait for what seems like an eternity until the scurrying starts again. The noise is more near and clearer than before. I recognize the scurrying to the noise rats make when they steal food and want to escape. Last term in biology we studied rat's behavior patterns and eating habits. I guess after this incident I won't finish my senior year at uni. I follow the rat's scurrying until I am sure they are right in front of me. I bend down and feel for the food, overwhelmed by hunger, and my fingers meet something warm and wet. I withdraw my hands and smell the liquid. Blood! Horrified, I step back and run straight into someone. I scream and soon realize it was very stupid because my scream echoes throughout the darkness alerting every soul within the vicinity. The person covers my mouth and whispers in a husky voice; "I am here to help! My name is Kurda Smahlt. I'm guessing you're the Vertahleenee Caffarelli I've been hearing non-stop from the boy!" His voice is so nice and reassuring, I think I'm in love even though I only hear his voice. It's also all these emotions bottling inside me. I think at any moment they might explode and I'll rush out and do something absurd it's a pity I cannot see my savior but I am sure he's handsome. I feel his face for features. Nice nose, mouth, eyelashes are long, long blonde hair, chiseled jaw. Gorgeous. "You're not a monster are you?" I ask. "The thing that has wrongly imprisoned you is being punished. He was a vampaneze. A form of vampire, they drink more than enough blood then they should, kill their victims. But they are not that bad!" I scowl, even though he can't see it, "Not bad! He was going to kill me. He drank my blood!" "I know" Kurda reassured me with a brief explanation of the murderous vampaneze that had imprisoned me. He told me some are good and only kill if need be others rampage and kill every living breathing thing in sight. He also told me about blooding. The way a human can be turned into a vampire or a vampaneze. They cut the tips of your fingers along with theirs and join them together so the vampire, or vampaneze, blood will run through your veins. "Wow, and I thought that a bite to the neck will do the trick!" Kurda laughed, "You're very pretty Vertahleenee!" I blushed and then realized it was pitch black. "How can you…?" I ask, scared for the first time around him. "I'm a vampire!" he answers. I shrink backwards. Frightened that at any minute he will pounce on me and drink from my blood. "Do not worry! I don't feed from the likes of the living. I prefer the dead. The dead that have only just died, that is! I have contacts that work in the morgue here in this city!" I relax and then walk back to him, my hands in front of me so I know where I'm going. "Why is it so dark?" I ask him. "The torches were snuffed by that stupid woman who offered you to the vampaneze in the return for his death. Unfortunately, it worked more his way then hers, thanks to me! She was a vampire hunter, her name Sakura Mori, Japanese for cherry blossom forest. She has been tracking down this beast for months but with no luck until she happened to be going to a nightclub and saw you. And then the moon shone on an alley near by and revealed Zanath, that's the vampaneze that's been following you for months!" I gasp, he knows so much but he sounds so young. "Why me?" I ask. "I don't know!" he answers in a depressed tone. I feel the mood between us change, a spark of jealousy and then fear. "How old are you?" I ask him the mood has a sudden burst of energy, "I stopped counting at 38!" We both laugh a lot, both knowing he is well older than what he looks (or feels). "Take my hand!" he says, "I'm taking you to the surface. Steve is waiting for you!" "NO!" I yell furiously, "Firstly, there is a body over there and secondly, he tried to rape me and then he tried to drink from me!" Kurda sighs, "The body first!" He takes my hand and our fingers thread through each other's. It feels as though they belong to stay like this. He has no trouble locating the body. "Zanath killed her!" he says. "What does she look like?" I ask, curious. "Long brown hair, one green eye, one blue. A small button nose and a distinctive pout!" he says. "Check her arm for a banana shaped scar!" I demand. "Which arm" he asks. "RIGHT!" I say furious with the possibility. He unthreads his fingers bends down and stands back up. "It's there," he answers. An extreme sense of loss and disparity overwhelms me and I collapse in a heap. I feel Kurda next to me, "Who was she?" I try to talk but I have to stop to breathe in between sobs, "Her name was Juliana Morrison. She was my best friend. She was my roommate. We did biology at uni together. How long has she been dead?" Kurda checks Juliana again. "Not more than a day or two!" I start to cry again and Kurda puts an arm around me. All these mixed emotions are so overpowering I push Kurda to the ground and sink my lips into his. His arms wrap around me and embrace me in a crushing grip. We're kissing very hard and my hands roam to find the bottom of his shirt. I rip it off and he rolls on top of me. And then the emotions flee and guilt, sorrow and fear cover me. I push Kurda off me, and wipe my mouth. "No!" I say, "We only just met! You're a vampire and I'm a human. My best friend died, I don't know where I am and there's a vampaneze on the lose" He puts his shirt back on and lends a comforting arm, "We could continue this later?" I laugh, and it feels so wrong but so right. "Let's get out of here!" I say. And he takes my hand and guides me through the dark.


End file.
